Probe systems, for example, are used for determining the position of workpieces which are clamped into material-working machines such as milling machines, for example. These probe systems frequently have a stationary transceiver unit, which is mounted on a permanently installed portion of the material-working machine, and they have a part which is movable or mobile with respect to the latter and often called a probe head. The probe head is often mounted on a movable portion of the material-working machine, such as on a milling spindle. The probe head includes a stylus, which is deflectable out of a rest position, or a deflectable probe element, which produces a switching signal when deflected out of its rest position. The rest position of the probe element should be understood to be a position in which the probe element does not have any contact with a workpiece. When the probe element makes contact with the workpiece, the probe element is deflected out of its rest position.
German Patent No. 35 32 184, for example, describes a probe head, for which a collision guard device is produced by a centered support and a single switch, which is offset from the center axis.